Ghost of Tsushima is Sucker Punch's triple-A love letter to Japanese samurai movies. Set during the Mongol invasion of the titular island, the studio has made it well known that the game is heavily inspired by classic samurai films, particularly those directed by Akira Kurosawa. In fact, the team loves these old flicks so much that it's built in a mode that turns the game black and white, adds film grain, and other effects.
Literally named Kurosawa Mode, the idea is that you can play the entire adventure as though it's an interactive movie from the famed director. In order to secure this name, though, Sucker Punch needed to secure permission from the filmmaker's estate -- and it did.
"We have this great game that transports people back to feudal Japan and Akira Kurosawa was one of our reference guides, especially early on about how we wanted it to feel," art director Jason Connell told Entertainment Weekly. "As we got closer and closer to making that a reality, we were like, 'What do we call this special mode that we created, this black-and-white throwback?' We threw out a bunch of different words and we thought, 'What would be awesome would be if we could call it Kurosawa Mode.'" The team sent off a video showcasing the mode to the estate, and received its blessing.
It's pretty impressive Sucker Punch has been able to recreate the director's style so well that it's able to put his name right in the game. In addition to the black and white filter and film grain, Kurosawa Mode also increases the wind effects and adjusts the sound quality.
Ghost of Tsushima is just over a week away from release on 17th July. Will you be playing with Kurosawa Mode enabled? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source ew.com]
Comments 43
Excited for this mode!
I’ll leave it for New Game+. I want to experience the colours and sights of the island in their entirety.
Something to keep in mind once all the bad faith articles roll in accusing this game of cultural appropriation.
I think that, just for something different, when I do play it I'll choose this mode. It's not simply a case of turning down the contrast, the added grain and wind effects seal the deal.
It does look very pretty in colour but I think I'll opt for the more 'arty' style.
Not sure though whether to go English or dubbed.
It's a great thing Sucker Punch are giving the player the choice, just like ND with all the accessibility options on The Last of Us Part II.
This looks really good. They've clearly gone the extra mile here.
Yeah that's really cool of them. I think I'll play it through first in colour and then do it in black and white.
Really looking forward to this game
Really cool that they recieved his blessing. I'm getting pretty hyped for release.
I'll start off with the original mode and perhaps turn on Kurosawa after 4/5 hours in to see what I prefer! The original mode looks to amazing not to give it a chance!! Time will tell
Been hearing a bit of buzz on Twitter from some who claim to have played it. Hope it turns out to be the case.
It looks really good, but I'm not missing out on all those pretty colours!
Definitely, for me it means I get 2 games instead of 1. Really looking forward to this
I bought Seven Samurai on blu ray at Xmas, still haven't got round to watching it yet. Can't wait for GoT
@get2sammyb You must have a review copy by now evreone else seems to have. Anything you are allowed to revel yet?? Cant wait for this game a true Sumarai experience.
@snowstorm2574 Yeah, we've got it: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/06/site_news_yes_were_playing_ghost_of_tsushima
@get2sammyb Heard on the grapevine the side missions are really good and not just fetch quests. Can you share if that's true, or do I have to wait until the 14th lol.
@lacerz This isn’t some sort of ‘woke conspiracy’. I’ve not heard a single person say this game is cultural appropriation in the same way that nobody said that Earthbound was cultural appropriation, or Silent Hill due to them being Japanese games rooted in American culture.
@nessisonett There was actually quite a lot of people hinting towards cultural appropriation for this game when they had a white man playing that flute dressed in samurai clothing at E3. I've seen some people bringing that back up again recently when they noticed the menu translation in Japanese wasn't correct.
@nessisonett mate, haven't you learned by now that EVERYTHING is a woke conspiracy to keep the radical left in control of the US and European levers of power. The proof is right in front of you. You just have to squint a little.
@JohnnyBastos Damn, those commies conspiring to hold onto Trump and Boris as their overlords, I should have known.
@Oh_fiddlesticks There are some people on Twitter that actually checked with a friend who is Japanese and they didn't think it was wrong at all. I'll try to find it.
https://mobile.twitter.com/manfightdragon/status/1278118571671871488
@Oh_fiddlesticks there’s definitely some tension about it. But I think the sentiments of the developers are in the right spot. And the guy at E3 playing the shakuhachi, Cornelius Boots, is a master at the instrument.
https://www.komuso.com/people/people.pl?person=1849
At first sight, obviously the question would be why is this white person representing this game/music/culture? However, most people end it there without looking into why.
I think the developers and the musician grew up loving these experiences and have poured there life into them to share with others. Not taking for their own. Retweeting, in a way.
Huge Kurosawa fan here, so Ghost of Tsushima always tickled my fancy, why this game hasn't existed before is beyond me. I will definitely give this mode a try just to see what it is like, but I'm not sure I'll stick with it for my first play through.
@nessisonett boy do they not like it!
@Itsacardgame He's called Cornelius Boots??!!!! That is so wonderful, thank you for brightening my day.
Edit: http://corneliusboots.com/ O to the M to the G!
@Enuo ?
Look at the state of this comments section
@get2sammyb Please say that this isn't another Days Gone? just this SIMPLE word is enough! you know what is my point...
Okay, this is very cool, can't wait for the game 😃
I get why they would implement it for this game, but generally speaking, I hate the 'film grain' effect in games. It was my least favourite thing about the visuals inTLOU2... and I was irritated that you could turn it off for Photo Mode, but not in gameplay.
I'll give it a go like that at some point but the world is so colourful so I'll have to play it that way first
@HMazzy111 we all wanna see a rich vibrant colourful veiw on a 4k TV after 5 hours I don't think u will swith to this mode lol for the rest of the game
@DeanySevigny yeah same here, also wondering how easy it will be to recognise areas to get your bearings in black and white, like in normal mode you could just think right that's over there next to field with the purple flowers for example
@Enuo I would laugh if it wasn’t true smh. Hell we already have the articles for horizon zero dawn and now forbidden west to prove that it will happen
@DeanySevigny Same here. I am looking forward to doing New Game+ on the PS5 with hopefully native 4K and Kurosawa Mode.
But wait, does Kurosawa mode also mean that we don't see us wounding enemies and instead they just magically die with our katana just stroking them just like in the old movies?
The oldest movies didn't even have "slash" sounds as far as I can remember (I just watched them 2 weeks ago). Will those also be removed with Kurosawa Mode?
joking
@nessisonett There was this pretty widespread example after E3 that was shut down by an actual Japanese person rather than an American whose parents or grandparents were from there.
@Matroska Ah ok, the old ‘speaking on behalf of actual Japanese people’. Still love the fact he’s called Cornelius Boots, does he double as Dora’s pet monkey?
Looks like the put alot of attention into this mode definitely gonna be my second playthrough for sure
@snap_drama Definitely not for the rest of the game but I want to give each mode a chance! Will more than likely end up swapping between them as and when the mood takes me
I can’t wait for this game. Definitely playing in Japanese with subtitles
I was kind of excited about the B&W mode, until I found out the sound quality will also be altered; not sure I will like that.
I hope his screen wipe is used in b & w mode
@HMazzy111 good point made its open world so u can just ride a horse around and use it then
Can't waaaaaiiiit.
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